Santa Fe

Santa Fe sits at 7,000 feet against the Sangre de Cristo foothills, an hour north of Albuquerque on I-25. A 1957 ordinance still requires downtown and Historic East Side construction to follow Spanish-Pueblo Revival or Territorial style, which is why the city reads the way it does. Life centers on the Plaza, the galleries along Canyon Road, the Saturday farmers market at the Railyard, and the Santa Fe Opera's open-air Crosby Theatre seven miles north on US 84/285.

Housing runs from compact condos and townhomes to multimillion-dollar adobe compounds east of the Plaza and custom homes on acreage at Las Campanas. State government is the largest employer, with Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center next, and several thousand Los Alamos National Laboratory staff commute 35 miles northwest. Days on market have stretched and inventory has loosened, giving buyers real negotiating room. Ski Santa Fe is 16 miles up Hyde Park Road, and the Rail Runner links the depot to Albuquerque.